


Pink Squadron

by Sourlander



Series: Unknown Limits [8]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Children, Fluff, Force-Sensitive Finn, M/M, Stormpilot, X-Wing, poefinn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 17:16:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8498473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourlander/pseuds/Sourlander
Summary: Poe enjoys spending time with his baby girl.(Can be read by everyone, not just those familiar with the Unknown Limits series)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is dedicated to all of you who love Stormpilot and wish them all a happy ending! It is part of my "Unknown Limits" series, but I guess it can be enjoyed without previous knowledge.
> 
> Thanks to AuroraLynne for inspiring me and to Flausengut for being my beta!!

** Pink Squadron **

 

Ace’s high-pitched bark, which was painful to the ears indoors but perfectly easy to stand out here, tolled across the backyard like a clear bell, evoking an impatient whirring sound from Beebee-Ate. It was all too obvious that the droid was annoyed by the dog’s incessant running about and nudging of Mia.

            Poe admired the droid for being so overly protective of Mia, though he was aware of course that Beebee-Ate couldn’t possibly act out of sentiment when he pushed the dog with the dark blue fur away from the toddler sitting on a blanket between Poe’s legs holding the green ball Ace was so anxious to get.

            “Hey, buddy,” Poe said, putting a hand on the droid’s head. “It’s fine. They’re just playing.”

            Ace barked again as if in confirmation and Beebee-Ate gave a sound which was the perfect imitation of a human’s growl of disappointment. Laughing, Poe shook his head and turned to Mia again.

            “Okay, honey. Throw the ball.”

            He didn’t have to tell her twice.

            “Kay!” Her clear, melodious voice made his heart throb violently as she lifted the ball high above her head so quickly, she hit his chin with a force he hadn’t quite expected. His head snapped back and he could still feel the spot where the hard duroplast of the ball had hit him, when she smashed it to the soft ground so hard that it bounced off the blanket. Ace caught it and started running about the yard happily, throwing the ball in high arches into the air only to chase after it as it hit the ground again.

            Mia’s happy laughter was all Poe needed at this precise moment and he willingly let go of his three year old daughter as she scrambled to her feet and started running towards Ace as fast as she could. His bushy tail with its white tip high in the air, Ace picked up the ball again, running off in the opposite direction.

            “Ace!” Mia shouted and Poe could practically hear the frustration in her voice. She had turned her back to him so he couldn’t see her, but it didn’t take a lot of imagination to visualize her pouting, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. “Come back!” She stomped her leg on the ground and as if this one command had called him to action, Beebee-Ate shot forward, trying to steer Ace back towards Mia, starting a chasing game, which only ended when, after about ten minutes of incessant running, getting the ball from Ace, throwing it again and starting the whole process all over, Mia collapsed laughing and her small body comfortably hot, against Poe’s chest.

            Grinning widely and wrapping his daughter tightly in his arms, revelling in her smiling face, which looked so much like Finn’s at the moment that it hurt, Poe felt utterly content. He pushed his hand through her hair. She had asked him not to put it up in a bun and Poe had conceded, though now of course it was all over the place and brushing it out later on would be quite a chore. He loved her bushy hair the way it was though and he had become quite the expert in taming it. “You tired yet?” he asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes as both Ace and Beebee-Ate settled down at either side of them; Ace curling up on the blanket right beside him and Beebee-Ate whistling disapprovingly at the dog.

            “No!” Mia laughed, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. “Just resting.”

            “Alright, pumpkin,” Poe muttered, looking up at the clear blue sky, when he heard Beebee-Ate give a sound of moderate alarm, whistling loudly in Binary shortly before a group of five X-Wings flying in perfect V-formation swooped low overhead.

            “Do you miss it, buddy?” Pow asked the droid.

            The affirmative beep was loud and clear, making Poe feel a pang of jealousy for the pilots guiding their ships back to the New Republic’s base not far from here. “Me too,” Poe admitted sighing heavily. Yes, the X-Wing he had gotten as part of his compensation package after he had left the Resistance to serve the Republic again was still in his possession, but he barely ever took it out of the shed he was keeping it in nowadays. The starfighter was simply too small and impractical for family life and Poe had become comfortable enough in his new domestic surroundings to be able to live without it. But of course there were times when he wanted to do nothing more than get into his ship and take it for a reckless spin around the solar system.

            “Miss what?” Mia’s question didn’t take him off guard, but it made him realise that he was absentmindedly staring right at the shed.

            “Flying,” he answered turning his gaze back towards his daughter. “Like them.” He pointed up at the sky, which was of course already clear of any X-Wings.

            “You fly!” Mia shook her head. “When we go to the shops or to Dad or to Yavin.”

            With a nod, Poe stroked her head again. “Yes, but that’s different. When we visit your Dad at his work, or we go to the shops we take the speeder and we wouldn’t all fit in my old X-Wing when we go to Yavin.”

            “The one in the shed?”

            “The one in the shed.”

            Mia scoffed and turned around, wriggling free of his embrace. Ace jumped to attention straight away, as if ready to restart the game. “Can we take a look?” The eagerness in her eyes was unmistakeable and it made a warmth spread through Poe’s chest which made it hard not to smile. Mia had seen _Black One_ before, had even sat inside it on Poe’s lap, but the one time he had actually taken her up in the small starfighter had been followed by an argument with Finn he wouldn’t soon forget. They rarely fought, but Finn’s anger at Poe taking Mia up in a ship that hadn’t been properly checked by a technician in over four years was understandable. At least he hadn’t doubted Poe’s piloting skills.

            “Let’s take a look,” Poe said, getting on his feet himself and walking towards the shed with Mia right at his side. Tail wagging, Ace followed them and Beebee-Ate was already rolling ahead, apparently mistaking Poe’s intentions.

            Pushing the wooden door of the shed aside, Poe revealed the inside and he had to take a step back to look up at the ship he had spent so many hours in. It had saved his life more than once and with its help he had not only managed to help in the defeat of the First Order ten years ago. This ship had been the centre of his life until Finn had crashed his way into it as well. Reaching up, Poe put his hand on the black durosteel nose and he immediately felt the thin layer of dust upon it.

            “It’s huge!” Mia declared as if she had never seen it before. She had walked right underneath it, looking up at the ship’s belly. “And pretty.”

            Poe couldn’t help but laugh while at the same time a wave of painful memories washed over him. Battles they had lost. Friends that had died. “That she is.” He lowered his hand, as Beebee nudged him gently and shook his head. “We can’t, buddy. She has to be checked out first.” Of course there was no saying when that would happen, but Finn had been right of course. He couldn’t risk getting Mia hurt.

            Beebee’s impatient whistling made him smile.

            “I know, you do a great job at checking her over, but Finn won’t let us fly unless a real technician gives us his personal approval.”

            Beebee didn’t seem too impressed by Poe’s words and with obvious displeasure made his way to the rear of the ship to the astromech hub at the back.

            “Papa?”

            Poe looked down to find Mia standing next to the ladder which made accessing the cockpit that much easier. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, Mia?” he asked in the same tone of innocence she herself had used just now.

            “Can’t we go up?”

            Poe didn’t answer straight away as he walked towards her, passing a stray can of paint they had put in here after redoing Mia’s bedroom half a year ago. Had it really been this long since he had last entered the shed?

            Scooping Mia up in his arms along the way, he climbed up the ladder, carefully keeping his balance. The canopy popped open at his command and Mia squealed happily, her arms clasped firmly around his neck and he heard Beebee-Ate being hoisted up into his hub right behind the cockpit. Immediately the instruments and screens came to life after months and months of hibernation.

            Driven by a wave of melancholy as much as eagerness to show Mia where he had spent years of his life, Poe settled in his seat with Mia on his lap. Below, Ace was complaining loudly at not being included and for a moment Poe was reminded of the strange animal he had picked up all those years ago on D’Qar. Polly had been his companion for roughly a year before he had finally given in and taken her to stay with his father on Yavin IV, but until then she had often flown with him, lying comfortably beneath his seat, never making a sound of complaint. Things with Ace were different. He was just as bubbly as Mia after all and Poe didn’t think the dog could handle flying in a starfighter.

            “What do you think?” Poe asked as Mia put her tiny hands on the flight controls, almost caressing them with awe.

            “Can we go up?”

            “No, I promised Dad we wouldn’t. And he’s right. _Black One_ is a very old ship.”

            “How old?”

            “Older than you.”

            “Older than you?”

            Poe laughed. “No, not older than me,” he said quietly and put his hands on Mia’s, thinking back to the day his mother had taken him up into the air and out of Yavin IV’s atmosphere. To the day she had let him steer her old A-Wing for the very first time with her hands on his to make sure everything went well. Hesitantly he reached out for Mia’s hands. They practically vanished beneath his own.

            The screen in front of him started showing the translation of Beebee’s excited beeping sounds. _Can we go up now? I’m ready! We’re a bit low on fuel, but than can be fixed easily._

            “No, we can’t,” Poe repeated what he had told Mia. “We’ll go up some other time.”

            “But Papa I-“

            “No…” He didn’t even have to raise his voice. Mia was stubborn and spoiled in a way, but she knew exactly when she had to stop nagging him or Finn. Gently prodding Mia’s hands from the flight control stick, he pressed his lips to her head, her curls tickling his skin. “Another time. I promise. I’ll get her fixed.”

            In order to understand Beebee-Ate’s disgruntled beeping, Poe didn’t even need to look at the translator screen. _She’s in perfect shape._

Shaking his head, Poe lifted Mia up, so he could get up himself. Crouching on his seat, his back pressed against the canopy, Poe put his foot on the first step of the ladder. “Come on, piggy back.” He crouched even lower and Mia didn’t take too long to climb on his back. The weight was familiar and easier to handle climbing down the ladder, even if she was holding on to him so tight that it was hard to breathe.

Ace greeted them loudly, obviously happy to see them again, jumping up Poe’s leg and barking like he hadn’t seen them in a week. “We’re back! Don’t worry!” And right then Beebee-Ate was back, pushing the dog roughly aside.

“Stop that, Beebee-Ate!” Sighing, Poe rolled his eyes. Mias legs still held firmly by his arms, knees pressing against his back. “Start playing nice! Ace is staying and he wants to protect Mia just as much as you do!”

The droid’s head swivelled from Poe to the dog, who wasn’t as bothered by Beebee’s rough dismissal of his attempts to greet Mia and Poe as Poe would have feared and who kept running around them both instead.

“Papa?” Mia asked quietly with a sadness in her voice that made his insides clench. Mia being sad was the one thing he couldn’t stand. Angry, pouty or annoyed were things he could deal with, but not sadness. Even if she didn’t know it yet, it reminded him of how sad her story actually was.

Yes, she was safe.

Yes, she was loved.

But she had lost her mother and father so early on and the life she could have had with them was lost to her forever. She had no idea yet of what had happened to her parents exactly. She was too young. Too fragile for that kind of information. She was only lucky that she hadn’t been an orphan for long.

“What is it?” Poe asked, worry clearly leaking through his speech. He turned his head, but he couldn’t really see her face.

“I want to fly again…”

Sighing, Poe reached behind him and grabbed Mia by the waist. This right here was probably one of the few moments she might actually turn him around, he thought. Wanting to fly so badly it was tugging at your heart was a familiar feeling to Poe and he had to remind himself that Mia couldn’t possibly want it as badly as he did. She was only three years old, had only flown in his X-Wing once and apart from loving the feeling of acceleration, she didn’t have too much experience with what it actually felt like to break through the clouds and see the sunlight shining on the clouds in a totally different, unfiltered way, or what it meant to crash through the atmosphere or feel the ship beneath you battle with the gravity of the planet you had just left.

“I know,” he said anyway. He didn’t want to fight with Finn and he certainly didn’t want to do anything that might even potentially be unsafe for Mia. “Why don’t I give you some private flying lessons?”

“How?”

“Let go of my neck, and I’ll show you.”

Reluctantly, Mia’s firm grip loosened and with a bit of effort, Poe managed to grab her body and pull her around to his side, his one arm wrapped around her middle right under his arm pit and the other supporting her chest. He could practically feel her breathing and a smile spread across his face.

“Now… what’s your favourite colour?”

“Blue!” She shouted, craning her neck to look up at him. Ace was jumping up and licking her fingers. Giggling, she put her arms up. “No! Pink!”

“Pink?”

“Pink!”

“Alright… spread your arms wide. Ready?”

“Ready.” Mia stretched out her arms and she looked straight ahead, her eyes focused on the backyard and the house she had grown up in. Safe and sound. Just like it should be.

“Beebee-Ate, you ready? Ready to launch Pink Leader for her first flight in three years?”

Mia’s excited laughter, mixed with Beebee-Ate’s affirmative made Poe’s heart beat faster. “Okay. Fuel checked?”

“Yup!”

Beebee beeped once.

Poe crouched, Mia pressed tightly to his side. Her legs were kicking wildly behind her.

“Do we have permission to take off?”

“YUP!”

Another beep.

“ARE WE READY!?”

“GO PAPA!!”

A long stretched out whistle was the final signal for Poe, who immediately started running, making a sharp right turn just after he had passed the door to the shed. Mia held her arms spread wide like an X-Wing in cruise mode, as he rushed past the hedge and then made another sharp turn around the sapling in the middle  of the yard and making whistling noises as he went, poorly imitating the noises of _Black One_ made in flight. Beebee-Ate provided the proper background noises, but Poe didn’t even bother stopping and kept pushing air past his lips with determination. He ran around in circles until he was spinning around on the spot fighting hard not to join in Mia’s laughter and revelling in the noises as she joined in his unmelodious mess of flight sounds.

“DAD!” Her sudden shout made him stop. They were facing the shed again and Poe felt like the world was spinning around him, as he turned around once more, stumbling slightly. There he was. Finn… just standing there and looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face and Poe couldn’t stand upright anymore. His knees gave way and he collapsed to the ground, right next to the blanket he had been sitting on before and he let himself fall completely so Mia was lying on his stomach.

“What have you two been up to?”

Poe turned his head to watch Finn approach them. The smile was slowly but surely starting to spread over Finn’s face and it made Poe’s heart flutter while at the same time he was trying very hard to catch his breath.

“Flying!” Mia declared, getting up too quickly and stumbling backwards. Finn caught her by the arms and settled her on his lap, as he sat down next to Poe, who immediately put his hand on Finn’s leg as if to steady himself. The world around him still hadn’t recovered.

“Thirteen years and you still make me dizzy…” he mumbled.

“Might have been all the spinning you did.”

“Smartass…” Poe put his arm over his eyes, trying to shake the feeling of the world still spinning around him. Of course that didn’t help much.

“Well, thank you.” He felt Finn draw ever nearer and then those familiar lips were on his.

“So,” Finn began and Poe opened his eyes to see Mia leaning against Finn’s chest and kissing his cheek, “how was your first flying lesson?”

“Great! I’m Pink Leader!” Mia was grinning, but apparently not satisfied to just remain sitting there. She was already reaching for the ball Ace had brought, after greeting Finn with a series of happy squealing sounds.

Finn laughed his deep, happy laugh and took the ball from Ace. Handing it to Mia, he let go of her. “Just take it easy, Pink Leader,” he said as he gently pushed her towards the dog. Beebee-Ate had joined them and was now standing quietly beside Poe, as if he needed watching like an invalid. Well, he wasn’t twenty anymore…

Shifting slightly, Poe rested his head on Finn’s lap as Mia stormed off after Ace, not minding Finn’s warning to take it easy one bit. Immediately Finn’s hand brushed through Poe’s hair, who closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Finn’s fingers massaging his scalp.

“How was work?” he mumbled, while Mia ran about squealing happily. He could only hear her now, but that was enough.

“Fine.” Finn’s voice was warm, resonating in every fibre of Poe’s being and Poe put an arm around Finn’s torso, breathing in the scent of him. “Nothing special, so I can really take the day off tomorrow.”

Poe smiled weakly, as he felt Finn’s mind brush gently against his own. He had grown accustomed to the feeling, almost revelling in the feeling of Finn’s mind touching his in moments like these. Like a gesture of greeting. A leaf gliding over water. Nothing like what they had grown to experience at other times, when not only their bodies melted into one, but also their minds. This was something different. A check on Poe’s well-being. A soft nudge. Like a kiss on the forehead. But not any less intimate than what they shared in bed.

“Still dizzy?” Finn whispered, so only Poe could hear him.

“Yup… keep doing that.” He wasn’t. Not really. He just enjoyed the sensation of Finn’s fingers entangled in his hair and Finn knew it, but he kept going. “Am I cooking tonight?”

“If you want… but I thought we could order something and-“

“Sounds perfect, babe,” Poe sighed as Finn’s hand reached to the back of his head and the fingertips started massaging the spot where his head and neck met. “I think all the flying made me sick. I can’t possibly stand being in the kitchen tonight.”

Finn’s laugh made goose bumps appear on his arms, though the sun was shining so brightly as it hadn’t done in weeks. “Sure, Pink Five, whatever you say.”

 


End file.
